(only in) Remission

"(only in) Remission"
2010



Originally I had considered a red heart. Although it worked for my personal meaning behind the piece, and looked beautiful with her red hair, something about it was just not working. Plus, I didn't want it to look too typical or like some kind of religious iconography, so I had a last minute overhaul of the whole concept-- the night before the show!


The idea of a bruised or grayed/decaying sort of heart came to mind. Then I also thought about how coals are black and gray; dingey and dead looking, yet still containing bright burning red embers inside. From the start, I wanted the heart to morph into something organic. The veins and arteries reminded me of roots (which tied into some complex metaphorical statement I wanted to illustrate, that I don't want to go into right now- haha) and so I was thinking of it turning into roots and twigs; like something was growing from it. The thought of rich blacks and grays reminded me of black irises- thus the idea was born.

One of my favorite, overlooked parts of this is the bust (LOL). Using a super-secret technique, I creating this pattern of colors and highlights, coming through the black of the corset. You should click the image above to see it up close.

Below you can see more textural elements I incorporated throughout this piece:

And there you have it- my latest piece.

Bleep blorp computing error! x_x

Yup, that's the way computers speak to one another... my brain (and my eyeballs) are fried. I've been working on the same stupid painting for about 5hours now... I'm sooo tired of it! haha :P I just need to take a break, go to sleep...

Just wanted to share the progress with you guys. I'm reeeeally excited because I've been having some problems with getting her colors/shading right, and for whatever reason I broke out my prismacolors and went to town... Very happy with the results! Any way, I'm gonna take a break now...

I will leave you with a shot of my messy work area. It's like a squirrel den. Or rat's nest... It can be clean and organized... but not when I'm working. Evvverything gets dragged out and tossed within a 12" radius of me for easy access haha. Those freaking lights too... It is burning up in here with them being on all day! My head hurts... zzzzzzzz

geez enough already!

I'm seriously tired of not having anything to say around here! I've started tons of projects and haven't finished a single one, and if I have, it's nothing worth posting haha! My Chicago trip was a bit of a flop- I had to come home due to a "situation" back home (my car is now totaled haha). I'm going insane STILL trying to finalize a sale that was initiated just before/after Christmas time... Working on a quilting project (It's for someone else, I'm not that nerdy, okay???) and I think there's lots more, but that just scratches the surface haha. Sorry folks. I feel like I haven't been here in forever!

Remember that Colbert Nation art contest I mentioned a while back? Well, I never really had time to work on a cool James Jean inspired portrait, so I just submitted my original illustration (see above). The contest is kind of having a hard time with gaining momentum, so I'm not sure how it's going to go... (If there aren't enough submissions, then there won't be a contest lol) Everything just seems to be on hold right now *sigh...*

Road trip, Holla

Yup, tomorrow I'm headed for a much needed mini getaway. I've never been to Chicago, but I hear it's a pretty cool city, so I'll give you my input when I get back LOL. Before I go, I just wanted to leave you with a little something.
I did this a while back and have totally forgotten to post it. She's modeled after the lovely Lily Donaldson. The girl has a gorgeous, unique face, and the "unusual" aspects make her really hard to draw. Eegad... I am happy with how this drawing turned out of her (it looks better than some of my others haha). Any who, like it, love it, or hate it, try not to pick her apart too much, because it'll just drive me more nuts if you do haha. Adieu...

"Amaranth" & Updates

"Amaranth"

January 2010

So, I finally got her done... Not really sure what I think, but either way, it's done, and I'll move on! I got all my submissions dropped off today for the upcoming juried show at 500x Gallery. Super excited to find out if I'll be getting in!! I will know sometime between now and Tuesday... I will let you know! I submitted this one, "Paper Whites," "Fight or Flight," and "`a outrance" (the chick in my blog title picture). Any way, lots of obstacles and money put into this, so I'm hoping it works out haha. C'est la vie... ;)

Teaser Pics

Not too much going on right now, just getting stuff ready for the 500x show coming up this month. Submissions are next week, so I'm just getting last minute stuff done. (Framing, touching up, etc) One of the pieces I'm submitting is something I started back in June that I've just put off to the side. I got the figure part done with, but then just got stuck with what direction I wanted to take it in. I've kind of got an idea now, so I'm working toward the finishing touches and polishing it up a bit.

Website Updates

Quandary

For various reasons, I haven't posted pics of the completed the red dress painting. One of the reasons being that I'm fical. The painting is finished, and hanging in a gallery, but part of me has always had a strong desire to take it down and redo parts of it (that's typical me haha). Originally, I wanted to go with a sophisticated, yet avant-garde sort of look, leaving the background unfinished, with the newsprint.


(this is basically what it would have looked like WITH the unfinished backround, I've just added a lot more detail and refining to the subject)


And, (b/c I don't have any GOOD pictures) here's how it looks with the finished background. I think either way it looks okay, but either way gives it a completely different feel, so I'm not sure what I'm wanting.





Thoughts, anyone? Please post and let me know what you've got to say ^__^ because I don't know haha. I'm always way too anal and overthink things, so sometimes I need an outside source or point of view to help me figure out what I may not be seeing. Any way, love to hear from you guys.

Progress Shot

I said I'd post some progress shots of what I'm working on. Not too much, but hey, I always like seeing what other people are working on, so I'll post pics for those who share an interest in seeing the creative process.
Click images to view up close.

The surface is covered with a really heavy gesso, covered with letters and printed pages.
I've also added some embossing paint (to create embellishments), medical gauze and tape, and even iodine.
The pic below sucks but you get the idea--

Since the edges are about 3" wide, I'm using them as an extension of the canvas. Heck, the entire canvas, literally, is an extension of what I'm expressing. One day I was feeling kind of bummed while working on it, so I started writing a little thought on the back of it. I've continued adding to it since. Just whenever I have a thought, I'll jot it down on the back. I could care less if anyone sees it or even reads it. I just think it adds that much more gravity to it. If someone one day, a hundred years from now, reads it, they'll study it and write about it in some analytical art blurb. I'll be like VanGogh, and they'll talk about how crazy that girl was. haha. Maybe not. But, that's how I feel sometimes. I can dream, can't I? :D

Fight or Flight

Fight or Flight. 2009

Finally this one is done! I'm really happy to be finished with it. As with anything, it turned out different than I was shooting for, but I'm hoping it's just me being anal and you guys will see what I was wanting to convey, haha.

This series was designed to be put together side by side (to tell a whole story) or to stand alone to make their own statements.

Part II: "Flight"

Each part holds both a literal and symbolic meaning. In reality "fight or flight" is a survival mechanism, and marks the moment between living or dying, or what 'stance' one will take with a life changing decision. Likewise, in a human sense, we can either fight to hold back a force, or we can act out agressively ("fight"). Or we can run and never look back ("flight")- we can be escapists.

In many cultures, the crow takes on a negative conotation and can thus be forboding or can be seen as a "survivor," scavenging on what he finds. Carrying a razor blade, he, in a sense, holds or presents the choice of life or death; of escapism and/or destruction.

Part I: "Fight"

The woman, facing towards the wind, is left to choose between "fight"-- (the force of "fighting" against the wind) or "flight"-- (being blown away).

I want this piece to show contrasting/contradicting feelings. One person can look at this and see the hope, the positive choices. Someone else could look at it and see defeat, self injury, etc. As with most of my paintings, I don't want to convey just the happy or sad-- I want the viewer to feel the tension. I want them to feel like they're standing on the edge of their choice and deciding what course they will take. Likewise, this piece bears its own personal meanings for myself, in it's literal and representational devices.

Welcom back ME!

Ha ha. So I've been away for a while...

I've been busy with school and work. I've done a lot of sketching in the mean time, just haven't had the time to post anything. Luckily I've had the last two days in a row off and have been strangely inspired to get some stuff done. So, here she is-- (pardon the crappy photo quality)

The final piece actually consists of two canvases, so this is the first half. I'm not really going to do anything else to her, but I will do a little more with the background once the second half is ready to go (that way they tie in with eachother) Any way, I'm excited to get started on part II!

AND I've almost finished another little something I've been working on (yay!) so I'll be posting that one in days to come!

All New Illustrations Portfolio!

I've been working on this for a while now, so finally I'm done. I've moved my illustrations from my official site, and moved them to their own seperate "illustration" site. To avoid confusion, the sites are still connected/affiliated with one another, my web address is still "alexteale.com", I've just created a new gallery for my illustrations, that way my fine art and portraiture are together, and my more contemporary/commercial illustrations are in their own portfolio.

Procrastination

I'm supposed to be doing homework right now. Oops. So, I fittingly chose to upload a glimpse of something I was working on in class instead of listening to a lecture ha ha. She's not finished, and the photo quality is terrible, but I like her, and I want to do more with it.

New Sketches

I haven't posted in a while... I've got a lot more to show, but this is all I've got photographed at the moment. Plus, I've gotta give you details, 'cause I'm pretty excited about how the details turned out! enjoy...

Masque. 2009

Untitled. 2009

Chicas

I've been playing with 'liquid' acrylics, which are basically a thinner, watery sort of acrylic paint that can be used like watercolors. They also provide some really vibrant colors, and can also be mixed with regular acrylics for a less transparent look.


Untitled. 7/2009



None the Wiser. 6/2009

Oldish/Newish Art

I haven't posted anything here in a long time... so I'd like to at least leave you here with the only pic I've got of the following painting. It's not a new piece, but it's so undocumented, that I don't even have it on my website yet! eep! So I thought I could at least post the 'in progress' shot I've got of it. (It's finished, I just don't have photos of it finished, and it's in Houston, so I can't get better pics) oh well... Click on the pic for a better view.


"La fille dans le jardin" ("The girl in the garden") 2009
If anyone out there wants more info, contact Betz Gallery!